The Russellville Lady Cyclones seemed to turn on the volleyball energy at will Thursday night as they opened 7A Central Conference action by beating the (Cabot) Lady Panthers 3-1 (25-18, 25-8, 23-25, 25-11).

"Thought we looked good tonight," Lady Cyclone head coach Cindy Jones said. "That is probably the loosest they have been on the court all season."

Russellville (5-4, 1-0 7A Central) started things out slow in the first game as Cabot took an early lead. The Lady Cyclones quickly found their rhythm, though, and battled back to win.

In the second game, Russellville clearly dominated and opened with a 4-0 run. Following three points by Cabot, the Lady Cyclones outscored the Lady Panthers 21-5 to go up 2-0. Russellville didn't come out firing on all cylinders as Cabot built a large lead during the third quarter. The Lady Panthers led the Lady Cyclones by 10 points on two occasions and 11 on another in Game 3. What seemed to be an automatic win for Cabot quickly disappeared as Russellville scored 11 straight points to tie the game at 23. Cabot scored the next two points to earn the win.

The Lady Cyclones regained control in the fourth game as they used great serves and defense at the net to get the 25-11 win.

"Cabot did an awesome job on defense. It seemed like they picked up everything we tried to do," Jones said. "I could tell the kids understood that it was for real. They played one of the their best matches of the season tonight."

Megan Simpson had 10 kills for the Lady Cyclones. Stephanie Williams had eight. Autumn Stewart had eight blocks and five kills, while Cody Brookhouser had five blocks and five kills.

Jones said she was not pleased with the team's inconsistency.

"That is not a very good way to play, especially in conference," Jones said. "We have got to do something about that."

The Lady Cyclones will return to action at 4:30 p.m. Sept. 13 as they travel to Conway to face the Lady Wampus Cats.